EPA takes on trailer park owner over water testing

Residents of a trailer park in Wyoming are fine with drinking bottled water, but the EPA says the park's owner should be doing more testing.

DRINK TO IT: Water systems at trailer parks, like the one pictured here in Wyoming, must be tested frequently according to EPA rules. (Photo: Lady_K/Flickr)

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking the owner of a small trailer park in Wyoming to court for failing to comply with water testing regulations. Over the weekend, the Casper Star Tribune reported that the EPA is seeking an injunction to force the owner to properly test and report on drinking water conditions of wells at the trailer park near the small town of Alcova, Wyo.

The park’s owner, Roy Stricklin, is a resident of Colorado and, according to the EPA, he hasn’t been complying with requests to test the water since 2005. “We’re seeking penalties,” said Peggy Livingston, enforcement attorney for the Denver regional office of the EPA. The EPA’s lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court, is aimed at getting Stricklin on board with proper testing procedures, but one resident of the trailer park says the owner has done his due diligence when it comes to testing.

The Star Tribune interviewed trailer park resident Frank Gruber who said that Stricklin or an assistant tests the water supply at the park on a monthly basis. Gruber also divulged to the newspaper that while he doesn’t think there are any issues with the water, he doesn’t drink it. While the water is safe, it doesn’t taste very good, so he and his family drink bottled water. As for Stricklin, he hasn’t made any public comments about the EPA’s lawsuit other than a profane remark about the EPA, according to reports.

The battle between the EPA and the trailer park owner heads to the courts to determine if the drinking water supply has been tested in accordance with EPA standards. It is unlikely profanity will be part of that discussion, but you never know.